U.S. patent application number 17/036924 was filed with the patent office on 2021-01-14 for communication method and communications apparatus.
The applicant listed for this patent is Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Tingting Geng, Le Yan, Qinghai Zeng, Hongping Zhang.
Application Number | 20210014915 17/036924 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005122219 |
Filed Date | 2021-01-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210014915 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Geng; Tingting ; et
al. |
January 14, 2021 |
Communication Method and Communications Apparatus
Abstract
A communication method and a communications apparatus, the
method including receiving, by a second network device, from a
third network device, first identification information of a first
radio access network area to which a first cell corresponding to
the third network device belongs, and sending, by the second
network device, second identification information of the first cell
and the first identification information of the first radio access
network area to a first network device.
Inventors: |
Geng; Tingting; (Shanghai,
CN) ; Zhang; Hongping; (Shanghai, CN) ; Zeng;
Qinghai; (Shanghai, CN) ; Yan; Le; (Shanghai,
CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. |
Shenzhen |
|
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005122219 |
Appl. No.: |
17/036924 |
Filed: |
September 29, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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PCT/CN2019/081416 |
Apr 4, 2019 |
|
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17036924 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 76/11 20180201;
H04W 76/15 20180201; H04W 84/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 76/11 20060101
H04W076/11; H04W 76/15 20060101 H04W076/15; H04W 84/02 20060101
H04W084/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 4, 2018 |
CN |
201810300559.4 |
Claims
1. A communications method, comprising: receiving, by a second
network device, from a third network device, first identification
information of a first radio access network area to which a first
cell corresponding to the third network device belongs; and
sending, by the second network device, second identification
information of the first cell and the first identification
information of the first radio access network area to a first
network device.
2. The method according to the claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the second network device, the second identification
information from the third network device.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first
identification information comprises a radio access network area
code.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein an area identified by
the radio access network area code comprises one or more cells.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending,
by, the second network device, third identification information of
a second cell corresponding to the second network device and a
fourth identification information of a second radio network area to
which the second cell belongs to the first network device.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the fourth
identification information comprises a second radio access network
area code.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein an area identified by
the second radio access network area code comprises one or more
cells.
8. A communications method, comprising: receiving, by a first
network device, a first identification information of a first radio
access network area to which a first cell corresponding to a third
network device belongs and second identification information of the
first cell from a second network device; receiving, by the first
network device, third identification information of a second cell
corresponding to the second network device and a fourth
identification information of a second radio network area to which
the second cell belongs from the second network device.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first
identification information comprises a first radio access network
area code and the fourth identification information comprises a
second radio access network area code.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein an area identified by
the first radio access network area code comprises one or more
cells, and an area identified by the second radio access network
area code comprises one or more cells.
11. A communications system, comprising: a first network device;
and a second network device; wherein the first network device is
configured to receive a first identification information of a first
radio access network area to which a first cell corresponding to a
third network device belongs and second identification information
of the first cell from the second network device, and receive third
identification information of a second cell corresponding to the
second network device and a fourth identification information of a
second radio network area to which the second cell belongs from the
second network device; and wherein the second network device is
configured to receive from the third network device, the first
identification information of the first radio access network
area.
12. The system according to claim 11, further comprising a third
network device, configured to send, to the second network device,
first identification information of the first radio access network
area.
13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the third network
device is further configured to send the second identification
information to the second network device.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of International
Application No. PCT/CN2019/081416, filed on Apr. 4, 2019, which
claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201810300559.4,
filed on Apr. 4, 2018. The disclosures of the aforementioned
applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This application relates to the field of communications
technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and a
communications apparatus.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In a communications system, a source network device sends
information about a radio access network notification area (RAN
Notification Area, RNA) to a terminal, the terminal enters an
inactive state based on the information about the RNA, and the
terminal may move in the RNA, or move out of the RNA. When the
terminal moves in the RNA, the terminal may not send a radio access
network notification area update (RNA Update, RNAU) notification
message to the source network device, or may periodically send the
RNAU notification message to the source network device. When the
terminal moves out of the RNA, the terminal needs to send an RNAU
notification message to a network device of a current serving cell,
so that the network device knows that the terminal moves out of the
RNA allocated by the source network device to the terminal.
[0004] In the prior art, after the source network device sends the
information about the RNA to the terminal, a failure in paging the
terminal is easily caused.
SUMMARY
[0005] Embodiments of this application provide a communication
method and a communications apparatus, so that a network device or
a core network node can successfully page a terminal.
[0006] According to a first aspect, this application provides a
communication method. The method includes receiving, by a core
network node from a first network device, information that is about
a radio access network notification area RNA and that is sent by
the first network device to a terminal, where the information about
the RNA includes identification information of at least one radio
access network area or identification information of at least one
tracking area, and indicating, by the core network node to page the
terminal, a network device of a cell corresponding to the radio
access network area or the tracking area identified by the
identification information. According to the solution provided in
this embodiment, a case in which the terminal cannot be paged when
the terminal in an inactive state moves out of the RNA configured
by the first network device for the terminal may be avoided.
[0007] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the core network node, identification information of at least
one second network device from the first network device, where the
second network device is a network device that fails to page the
terminal, and the indicating, by the core network node to page the
terminal, a network device of a cell corresponding to the radio
access network area or the tracking area identified by the
identification information includes indicating, by the core network
node to page the terminal, a network device of the cell
corresponding to the radio access network area or the tracking area
identified by the identification information other than the at
least one second network device. According to the solution provided
in this embodiment, the first network device and the second network
device may be prevented from repeatedly paging the terminal.
Therefore, unnecessary paging overheads may be reduced, and network
resources may be saved.
[0008] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the core network node, first identification information of the
terminal from the first network device, where the first
identification information is used to uniquely identify the
terminal in the RNA, and the indicating, by the core network node
to send a paging message for paging the terminal, a network device
of a cell corresponding to the radio access network area or the
tracking area identified by the identification information includes
indicating, by the core network node to send a first paging
message, the network device of the cell corresponding to the radio
access network area or the tracking area identified by the
identification information, where the first paging message includes
the first identification information.
[0009] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the core network node, second identification information of the
terminal from the first network device, where the second
identification information includes any one of a system
architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber identity
(S-TMSI), an international mobile subscriber identity IMSI, or
identification information determined based on the S-TMSI or the
IMSI, and the indicating, by the core network node to send a paging
message for paging the terminal, a network device of a cell
corresponding to the radio access network area or the tracking area
identified by the identification information includes indicating,
by the core network node to send a second paging message, the
network device of the cell corresponding to the radio access
network area or the tracking area identified by the identification
information, where the second paging message includes the second
identification information. According to the solution provided in
this embodiment, flexibility of paging the terminal by the network
device may be improved.
[0010] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the core network node from the first network device, a period in
which the terminal listens to the first paging message or a sending
period of the first paging message. According to the solution
provided in this embodiment, the core network node may select a
minimum sending period in which the terminal listens to a paging
message, so as to improve a success rate of paging the
terminal.
[0011] In a possible design, after the indicating, by the core
network node to page the terminal, a network device of a cell
corresponding to the radio access network area or the tracking area
identified by the identification information, the method further
includes if the network device of the cell corresponding to the
radio access network area or the tracking area identified by the
identification information fails to page the terminal, sending, by
the core network node, second indication information to a network
device in a tracking area allocated by the core network node to the
terminal, where the second indication information is used to
indicate, to send a second paging message for paging the terminal,
the network device in the tracking area allocated by the core
network node to the terminal. According to the solution provided in
this embodiment, a success rate of paging the terminal may be
further improved.
[0012] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the core network node from a plurality of network devices,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to each network device
belongs.
[0013] According to a second aspect, this application provides a
communication method. The method includes sending, by a first
network device, information about a radio access network
notification area RNA to a terminal, where the information about
the RNA includes identification information of at least one radio
access network area or identification information of at least one
tracking area, and sending, by the first network device, the
information about the RNA to a core network node.
[0014] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device, identification information of at least
one second network device to the core network node, where the
second network device is a network device that fails to page the
terminal.
[0015] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device, first identification information of
the terminal to the core network node, where the first
identification information is used to uniquely identify the
terminal in the RNA.
[0016] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device, second identification information of
the terminal to the core network node, where the second
identification information includes any one of a system
architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber identity S-TMSI,
an international mobile subscriber identity IMSI, or identification
information determined based on the S-TMSI or the IMSI.
[0017] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device to the core network node, a period in
which the terminal listens to a first paging message or a sending
period of the first paging message.
[0018] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device to the core network node,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to the first network
device belongs.
[0019] In a possible design, the method further includes sending,
by the first network device to the core network node, an identifier
of a cell corresponding to the first network device and
identification information of a radio access network area to which
the cell belongs, or sending, by the first network device to the
core network node, an identifier of a cell corresponding to the
first network device and identification information of a tracking
area to which the cell belongs.
[0020] According to a third aspect, this application provides a
communication method. The method includes determining, by a first
network device, information that is about a radio access network
notification area RNA and that is to be sent to a terminal, where
the information about the RNA includes identification information
of at least one first radio access network area or identification
information of at least one first tracking area, and sending, by
the first network device, the information about the RNA and
identification information of at least one cell to the terminal.
According to the solution provided in this embodiment, when
downlink data or signaling arrives, a network device or a core
network node can successfully page the terminal.
[0021] In a possible design, identification information of a radio
access network area to which each of the at least one cell belongs
to the identification information, of the at least one first radio
access network area, that is included in the information about the
RNA, or identification information of a tracking area to which each
of the at least one cell belongs to the identification information,
of the at least one first tracking area, that is included in the
information about the RNA.
[0022] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the first network device from a second network device,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to the second network
device belongs, and/or receiving, by the first network device from
a second network device, identification information of a radio
access network area or a tracking area to which a cell
corresponding to a third network device belongs.
[0023] In a possible design, the at least one cell is determined
based on the cell corresponding to the second network device and/or
the cell corresponding to the third network device.
[0024] In a possible design, the method further includes receiving,
by the first network device from a core network node,
identification information of at least one second radio access
network area and identification information of a cell corresponding
to identification information of each of the at least one second
radio access network area, or receiving, by the first network
device from a core network node, identification information of at
least one second tracking area and identification information of a
cell corresponding to each of the at least one second tracking
area.
[0025] In a possible design, the at least one cell is determined
based on the identification information of the at least one second
radio access network area and the identification information of the
cell corresponding to the identification information of each of the
at least one second radio access network area, or the at least one
cell is determined based on the identification information of the
at least one second tracking area and the identification
information of the cell corresponding to each of the at least one
second tracking area.
[0026] According to a fourth aspect, this application provides a
communication method. The method includes receiving information
about a radio access network notification area RNA and
identification information of at least one cell, where the
information about the RNA includes identification information of at
least one radio access network area or identification information
of at least one tracking area, and determining, based on
identification information of a current cell of a terminal and the
identification information of the at least one cell, whether to
send a radio access network notification area update RNAU
notification message, where identification information of a radio
access network area to which the current cell belongs to the
identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information about the RNA, or
identification information of a tracking area to which the current
cell belongs to the identification information, of the at least one
tracking area, that is included in the information about the
RNA.
[0027] In a possible design, identification information of a radio
access network area to which each of the at least one cell belongs
to the identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information about the RNA, or
identification information of a tracking area to which each of the
at least one cell belongs to the identification information, of the
at least one tracking area, that is included in the information
about the RNA.
[0028] In a possible design, the identification information of the
at least one cell is a blacklist, and the determining, based on
identification information of a current cell of a terminal and the
identification information of the at least one cell, whether to
send a radio access network notification area update RNAU
notification message includes if the identification information of
the current cell is the same as identification information of the
cell in the at least one cell, determining to send the RNAU
notification message to a network device of the current cell.
Therefore, a network device or a core network node determines a
location of the terminal in a timely manner, and when the network
device or the core network node needs to page the terminal, a
paging area can be better determined, thereby saving signaling
overheads.
[0029] In a possible design, the information of the at least one
cell is a whitelist, and the determining, based on identification
information of a current cell of a terminal and the identification
information of the at least one cell, whether to send a radio
access network notification area update RNAU notification message
includes if the identification information of the current cell is
different from identification information of each of the at least
one cell, determining to send the RNAU notification message to a
network device of the current cell. Therefore, a network device or
a core network node determines a location of the terminal in a
timely manner, and when the network device or the core network node
needs to page the terminal, a paging area can be better determined,
thereby saving signaling overheads.
[0030] According to a fifth aspect, this application provides a
communications apparatus. The communications apparatus includes a
module, a component, or a circuit configured to implement the
communication method according to any one of the first to fourth
aspects.
[0031] According to a sixth aspect, this application provides a
communications apparatus. The communications apparatus includes a
memory and a processor, where the memory is coupled to the
processor, and the processor is configured to perform the method
according to the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect,
or the fourth aspect.
[0032] In a possible design, the communications apparatus in the
fifth aspect or the sixth aspect may be a core network node, a base
station, or a terminal, or may be a component (such as a chip or a
circuit) of the core network node, the base station, or the
terminal.
[0033] According to a seventh aspect, this application provides a
computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage
medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is
run on a computer, the communications apparatus is enabled to
perform the method according to the first aspect, the second
aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect.
[0034] According to an eighth aspect, this application provides a
computer program. When the computer program is executed by a
computer, the method according to the first aspect, the second
aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect is performed.
[0035] In a possible design, the program in the eleventh aspect may
be all or partially stored on a storage medium packaged with a
processor, or may be all or partially stored on a memory not
packaged with the processor.
[0036] According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of this
application further provides a communications system. The
communications system includes the communications apparatus
according to the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario
according to an embodiment of this application;
[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another application
scenario according to an embodiment of this application;
[0039] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method
according to this application;
[0040] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another communication
method according to this application;
[0041] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another communication
method according to this application;
[0042] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another communication
method according to this application;
[0043] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications
apparatus according to an embodiment of this application;
[0044] FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application;
[0045] FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application;
[0046] FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application;
[0047] FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application;
[0048] FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of still another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application; and
[0049] FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of still another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0050] Some terms used in implementations of this application are
merely used to explain specific embodiments of this application,
but are not intended to limit this application.
[0051] The embodiments of this application may be applied to
various types of communications systems. FIG. 1 is a schematic
diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of
this application. A communications system shown in FIG. 1 mainly
includes a network device 11 and a terminal 12.
[0052] (1) The network device 11 may be a network side device, for
example, an access point AP of wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), or a base
station in next-generation communication, such as a 5.sup.th
generation node B (gNB), a small cell, a micro base station, or a
TRP in 5th generation communications (5G), or may be a relay
station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable
device, or the like. In the embodiments, communications systems of
different communications standards include different base stations.
For ease of distinction, a base station in a 4G communications
system is referred to as a long term evolution (LTE) evolved nodeB
(eNB), a base station in a 5G communications system is referred to
as a new radio (NR) gNB, and a base station that supports both the
4G communications system and the 5G communications system is
referred to as an eLTE eNB. These names are merely for convenience
of distinction, and do not have a limitation meaning.
[0053] (2) The terminal 12, also referred to as user equipment
(User Equipment, UE), is a device that provides a user with voice
and/or data connectivity, for example, a handheld device or a
vehicle-mounted device having a wireless connection function.
Common terminals include, for example, a mobile phone, a tablet
computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile
internet device (MID), and a wearable device, such as a smartwatch,
a smart band, or a pedometer.
[0054] (3) "A plurality of" means two or more, and another
quantifier is similar to this. The term "and/or" describes a
correspondence between associated objects and represents that three
relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B may represent the
following three cases: Only A exists, both A and B exist, and only
B exists. The character "/" generally indicates an "or"
relationship between the associated objects.
[0055] It should be noted that a quantity and types of terminals 12
included in the communications system shown in FIG. 1 are merely
examples, and the embodiments of this application are not limited
thereto. For example, the communications system may further include
more terminals 12 that communicate with the network device 11. For
brief description, the terminals 12 are not described in the
accompanying drawings one by one. In addition, although the network
device 11 and the terminal 12 are shown in the communications
system shown in FIG. 1, the communications system may not be
limited to including the network device 11 and the terminal 12. For
example, the communications system may further include a core
network node or a device configured to carry a virtualized network
function. This is obvious to a person skilled in the art, and
details are not described herein.
[0056] In addition, the embodiments of this application may not
only be applied to a next-generation wireless communications
system, namely, the 5G communications system, but to another system
that may appear in the future, such as a next-generation Wi-Fi
network and a 5G internet of vehicles.
[0057] Generally, when a terminal is in an idle state, a radio
resource control (RRC) connection between the terminal and a
network device is disconnected, and there is no continuous data
transmission between the terminal and the network device. Similar
to the idle state, when the terminal is in an inactive state, the
RRC connection between the terminal and the network device is also
disconnected, and there is no continuous data transmission. The
inactive state is a radio resource control (Radio Resource Control,
RRC) state, and is also referred to as an RRC inactive state. A
difference between the inactive state and the idle state lies in
that when the terminal is in the inactive state, the terminal and
an access network device store a context of the terminal, and the
access network device sends information about a radio access
network notification area (RAN Notification Area, RNA) to the
terminal. Generally, an access network device that configures the
terminal to enter the inactive state and stores the context of the
terminal is a source network device or an anchor network
device.
[0058] After the terminal receives the information about the RNA
from the source network device and enters the inactive state, the
terminal may be located in the RNA for a long time, or may move out
of the RNA. Generally, when the terminal performs cell reselection
and reselects another cell in the RNA, the terminal does not send a
radio access network notification area update (RNA Update, RNAU)
notification message to the source network device for a change of a
serving cell. However, when the terminal moves out of the RNA, the
terminal sends an RNAU notification message to a network device of
a serving cell in which the terminal is currently located, to
notify the network device that the terminal moves out of the
originally configured RNA. Therefore, a network device or a core
network node determines, in a timely manner, that the terminal
moves out of the RNA allocated by the source base station to the
terminal. When the network device or the core network node needs to
page the terminal, a paging area may be better determined, thereby
saving signaling overheads. In some scenarios, the source network
device sends configuration information to the terminal that enters
the inactive state, where the configuration information includes
information used to indicate the terminal to periodically send an
RNAU notification message, so that when the terminal moves in the
RNA, the terminal may periodically send the RNAU notification
message to the source network device. The periodic RNAU
notification message may ensure that a status of the terminal
recorded by the source network device is consistent with an actual
status of the terminal.
[0059] The information that is about the RNA and that is sent by
the source network device to the terminal may include the following
several possible forms.
[0060] In a possible form, the information about the RNA is cell
information. The cell information includes identification
information of at least one cell, and the identification
information of the at least one cell constitutes a cell list.
Optionally, identification information of a cell may specifically
include at least one of a cell global identifier (CGI), a physical
cell identifier (PCI), and a cell identifier of the cell.
[0061] In another possible form, the information about the RNA is
RAN area information. The RAN area information includes at least
one radio access network (RAN) area identity (ID), and the at least
one RAN area ID constitutes a RAN area ID list. Optionally, a RAN
area ID may include a tracking area identity (TAI) and a RAN area
code (RANAC), or the RAN area ID includes only the RANAC. An area
identified by the RANAC includes one or more cells. Optionally, the
RANAC is unique within a TAI range.
[0062] In still another possible form, the information about the
RNA is tracking area information. The tracking area information
includes at least one tracking area identity (TAI), and the at
least one TAI constitutes a TAI list. Optionally, a TAI may include
a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier and a tracking area
code (TAC), or the TAI includes only the tracking area code.
[0063] Both the RAN area ID and the TAI are area identification
information of a cell. A difference lies in that the RAN area ID is
perceived by an access network and the TAI is perceived by a core
network. A tracking area includes one or more cells, and a RAN area
may also include one or more cells. Optionally, a range of the RAN
area is less than that of the tracking area TA.
[0064] In this embodiment, the information that is about the RNA
and that is sent by the source network device to the terminal may
include at least one RAN area ID or at least one TAI. For example,
the information about the RNA includes at least one RAN area ID. As
shown in FIG. 2, a tracking area TA 20 includes a plurality of
cells, for example, a cell 0, a cell 1, a cell 2, a cell 3, a cell
4, a cell 5, a cell 6, a cell 7, and a cell 8. The cell 0 is a cell
of a source base station, namely, a cell corresponding to the
source base station. The source base station may send information
about an RNA to the terminal, where the information about the RNA
includes at least one RAN area ID, and the at least one RAN area ID
may constitute a RAN area ID list. As shown in FIG. 2, the cell 1,
the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and the cell 5 are adjacent
cells of the cell of the source base station, and the cell 6, the
cell 7, and the cell 8 are non-adjacent cells of the cell of the
source base station. Optionally, there may be direct interfaces,
such as Xn interfaces, between the source base station and base
stations corresponding to the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the
cell 4, and the cell 5. There are no direct interfaces between the
source base station and base stations corresponding to the cell 6,
the cell 7, and the cell 8. RAN area IDs respectively corresponding
to the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, and the cell 4 are 10, a RAN
area ID corresponding to the cell 5 is 4, RAN area IDs respectively
corresponding to the cell 6 and the cell 7 are 10, a RAN area ID
corresponding to the cell 8 is 4, and a RAN area ID corresponding
to the cell of the source base station is 10. There is a direct Xn
interface between the source base station and a base station of an
adjacent cell, and the source base station may obtain, through the
Xn interface, a RAN area ID corresponding to the adjacent cell.
Optionally, the information that is about the RNA and that is sent
by the source base station to the terminal based on RAN area IDs
corresponding to adjacent cells include the RAN area ID 10 and the
RAN area ID 4, and the RAN area ID 10 and the RAN area ID 4
constitute a RAN area ID list.
[0065] However, when the terminal moves to a range shown in a
solid-line area 22 in FIG. 2, because RAN area IDs respectively
corresponding to the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8 in the
range shown in the solid-line area 22 are in the RAN area ID list
sent by the source base station to the terminal, the terminal
considers that the terminal does not move out of the RNA allocated
by the source base station to the terminal, and therefore the
terminal does not send an RNAU notification message to a base
station of a serving cell in which the terminal is currently
located.
[0066] For example, the terminal moves to the cell 6. Because the
RAN area ID of the cell 6 is 10, the RAN area ID of the cell 6 is
in the RAN area ID list sent by the source base station to the
terminal. Similarly, when the terminal moves to the cell 8, because
the RAN area ID of the cell 8 is 4, the RAN area ID of the cell 8
is in the RAN area ID list sent by the source base station to the
terminal. To be specific, when the terminal moves to the range
shown in the solid-line area 22, the terminal considers that the
terminal does not move out of the RNA allocated by the source base
station to the terminal, and therefore the terminal does not send
the RNAU notification message. When a core network node sends, to
the source base station, downlink data or signaling corresponding
to the terminal, the source base station cannot successfully page
the terminal. Consequently, the terminal cannot normally receive
the downlink data or signaling. To resolve this problem, this
application provides a communication method, to improve a success
rate of paging the terminal. The following describes the
communication method in combination with a specific application
scenario.
[0067] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication method
according to this application. As shown in FIG. 3, the
communication method described in this embodiment is applicable to
the application scenario shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, a first
network device may be a source base station that configures a
terminal to enter an inactive state. A second network device may be
specifically a base station that has a direct interface such as an
Xn interface to the source base station. As shown in FIG. 2, the
second network device may be specifically a base station
corresponding to at least one of the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell
3, the cell 4, and the cell 5 that are adjacent to the cell of the
source base station. A third network device may be specifically a
base station that does not have a direct interface to the source
base station. As shown in FIG. 2, the third network device may be
specifically a base station corresponding to at least one of the
cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8 that are not adjacent to the
cell of the source base station. The communication method
specifically includes the following steps.
[0068] Step S301: The first network device sends information about
a radio access network notification area RNA to the terminal, where
the information about the RNA includes a RAN area identity 10 and a
RAN area identity 4.
[0069] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, an example in which
the information about the RNA configured by the first network
device for the terminal in the inactive state is RAN area
information is used. In the scenario shown in FIG. 2, the RAN area
information may include, for example, the RAN area identity 10 and
the RAN area identity 4.
[0070] Step S302: The terminal enters the inactive state.
[0071] After receiving the information that is about the RNA and
that is sent by the first network device, the terminal enters the
inactive state.
[0072] Step S303: The first network device sends the information
about the RNA to a core network node.
[0073] In this embodiment, the first network device sends the
information about the RNA to the core network node after allocating
the RNA to the terminal in the inactive state. Optionally, the
first network device may also send the information about the RNA to
the core network node when the terminal in the inactive state
cannot be paged.
[0074] Herein, that the first network device sends the information
about the RNA to the core network node after allocating the RNA to
the terminal in the inactive state is used as an example. After
receiving the information about the RNA from the first network
device, the core network node determines, based on the RAN area
identity 10 included in the information about the RNA, at least one
cell corresponding to the RAN area identity 10, and determines,
based on the RAN area identity 4 included in the information about
the RNA, at least one cell corresponding to the RAN area identity
4.
[0075] Specifically, the core network node may determine, based on
identification information of a cell and identification information
of a RAN area to which the cell belongs, a network device of a cell
corresponding to the RAN area identity 10 and a network device of a
cell corresponding to the RAN area identity 4. For example, the
core network node determines, based on a correspondence shown in
the following Table 1, a network device that pages the terminal. It
may be understood that the core network node may determine, as
network devices that page the terminal, all network devices of
cells corresponding to the RAN area identity 10 and the RAN area
identity 4, or may determine, as network devices that page the
terminal, some network devices of cells corresponding to the RAN
area identity 10 and the RAN area identity 4. In a possible manner,
the some network devices may be, for example, network devices in
all the network devices of the cells corresponding to the RAN area
identity 10 and the RAN area identity 4 other than a network device
that fails to page the terminal.
[0076] The first network device may send, to the core network node,
identification information of the network device that fails to page
the terminal, so that the core network node learns of the network
device that fails to page the terminal, and indicates, to page the
terminal, a network device in network devices corresponding to the
cell corresponding to the RAN area other than the network device
that fails to page the terminal, so as to prevent, from repeatedly
paging the terminal, the network device that fails in paging,
thereby reducing unnecessary paging overheads and saving network
resources.
[0077] In a possible manner, when sending the information about the
RNA to the core network node, the first network device may further
send, to the core network node, the identification information of
the network device that fails to page the terminal.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Identification information Identification
information of a cell of a RAN area Cell ID 0 RAN area ID 10 Cell
ID 1 RAN area ID 10 Cell ID 2 RAN area ID 10 Cell ID 3 RAN area ID
10 Cell ID 4 RAN area ID 10 Cell ID 5 RAN area ID 4 Cell ID 6 RAN
area ID 10 Cell ID 7 RAN area ID 10 Cell ID 8 RAN area ID 4
[0078] It may be understood that the correspondence shown in Table
1 may be determined by the core network node by using
identification information of a cell and RAN area ID information
corresponding to the cell, where the identification information of
the cell and the RAN area ID information corresponding to the cell
are received from a network device. The network device is not
limited to the first network device, the second network device, and
the third network device, and the network device may be further
another network device other than the first network device, the
second network device, and the third network device.
[0079] The core network node determines, based on the
correspondence shown in Table 1, that cells corresponding to the
RAN area identity 10 includes a cell 0, a cell 1, a cell 2, a cell
3, a cell 4, a cell 6, and a cell 7, and cells corresponding to the
RAN area identity 4 includes a cell 5 and a cell 8. There are
direct interfaces between the source base station and base stations
corresponding to the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4,
and the cell 5, and the base stations corresponding to the cell 1,
the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and the cell 5 may be referred
to as second network devices in this embodiment. There are no
direct interfaces between the source base station and base stations
corresponding to the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8, and the
base stations corresponding to the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell
8 may be referred to as third network devices in this embodiment.
The core network node may indicate all network devices or some
network devices in the first network device, the second network
device, and the third network device to page the terminal. For a
manner of indicating the first network device, the second network
device, and the third network device to page the terminal, refer to
steps S304 and S305, S306 and S307, and S308 and S309.
[0080] Step S304: The core network node sends indication
information to the first network device.
[0081] Step S305: The first network device sends a paging message
for paging the terminal, where the paging message includes
identification information of the terminal.
[0082] Step S306: The core network node sends indication
information to the second network device.
[0083] Step S307: The second network device sends a paging message
for paging the terminal, where the paging message includes
identification information of the terminal.
[0084] Step S308: The core network node sends indication
information to the third network device.
[0085] Step S309: The third network device sends a paging message
for paging the terminal, where the paging message includes
identification information of the terminal.
[0086] As described in the foregoing steps S304 to S309, the core
network node separately sends indication information to the first
network device, the second network device, and the third network
device, to separately indicate the first network device, the second
network device, and the third network device to send paging
messages for paging the terminal. The indication information may be
used to indicate the first network device, the second network
device, and the third network device to send first paging messages,
for example, paging messages triggered by a RAN (RAN based paging).
Alternatively, the indication information may also be used to
indicate the first network device, the second network device, and
the third network device to send second paging messages, for
example, paging messages triggered by a core network (CN) (CN based
paging). It may be understood that the indication information is
described based on a function, and the indication information may
be an explicit indication, an implicit message name, or an
information element indication.
[0087] After receiving the indication information from the core
network node, the first network device, the second network device,
and the third network device send the corresponding paging messages
based on an indication of the indication information. If the paging
message is the RAN based paging, the RAN based paging includes
first identification information of the terminal. The first
identification information may uniquely identify the terminal in
the RNA. If the paging message is the CN based paging, the CN based
paging includes second identification information of the terminal.
The second identification information of the terminal may be any
one of a system architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber
identity (S-TMSI) corresponding to the terminal, an international
mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) corresponding to the terminal, or
identification information that is determined based on the S-TMSI
or the IMSI and that is corresponding to the terminal.
[0088] It should be noted that an execution sequence of step S304,
step S306, and step S308 is not limited in this embodiment, and an
execution sequence of step S305, step S307, and step S309 is not
limited. It may be understood that, when the core network device
indicates some network devices (for example, the third network
device) to page the terminal, S304 to S307 may not be
performed.
[0089] Optionally, when separately sending the indication
information to the first network device, the second network device,
and the third network device, the core network node may add the
second identification information of the terminal to the indication
information. The first network device, the second network device,
and the third network device respectively send, based on the
indication information, the second paging messages for paging the
terminal. The second paging messages include the second
identification information of the terminal.
[0090] In a possible manner, descriptions in step S304 to step S309
in this embodiment of this application may be a possible procedure
after a procedure in which the first network device sends the
information about the RNA to the core network node and the core
network node receives, from another network element, downlink data
or signaling corresponding to the terminal.
[0091] In another possible manner, descriptions in step S303 to
step S309 in this embodiment of this application may be a possible
procedure after a procedure in which after the first network device
allocates the RNA to the terminal in the inactive state, the first
network device receives, from the core network node, downlink data
or signaling corresponding to the terminal and fails to page the
terminal. This is not limited in this embodiment of this
application.
[0092] In addition, this embodiment is described by using an
example in which the information that is about the RNA and that is
sent by the source base station to the terminal is the RAN area
information. This embodiment is further applicable to a scenario in
which the information about the RNA is tracking area information or
a scenario in which the information about the RNA is other
configuration. A specific implementation is similar to the
implementation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and details are
not described herein again.
[0093] In this embodiment, the first network device sends, to the
core network node, the information about the RNA allocated by the
first network device to the terminal in the inactive state, where
the information about the RNA may include at least one radio access
network RAN area identity. The core network node determines a cell
corresponding to the RAN area identity, and indicates a network
device of the corresponding cell to page the terminal, so as to
avoid a case in which the terminal cannot be paged when the
terminal in the inactive state moves out of the RNA configured by
the first network device for the terminal, so that downlink
signaling or data of the terminal can be sent to the terminal in a
timely manner, thereby improving service experience of the
terminal.
[0094] Based on the foregoing embodiment, the first network device
may further send the identification information of the terminal to
the core network node, where the identification information of the
terminal may be the first identification information or the second
identification information. The first identification information
and the second identification information are specifically
described in the foregoing embodiment, and details are not
described herein again.
[0095] FIG. 3 is used as an example. In step S303, the first
network device may send the information about the RNA and the first
identification information of the terminal to the core network
node. In step S304, the indication information sent by the core
network node to the first network device is used to indicate the
first network device to send the first paging message, such as the
RAN based paging, for paging the terminal. In step S305, the paging
message sent by the first network device is specifically the RAN
based paging, and the RAN based paging includes the first
identification information of the terminal. Step S306 to step S309
are similar to this, and details are not described herein
again.
[0096] Alternatively, in step S303, the first network device may
send the information about the RNA and the second identification
information of the terminal to the core network node. In step S304,
the indication information sent by the core network node to the
first network device is used to indicate the first network device
to send the second paging message, such as the CN based paging, for
paging the terminal. In step S305, the paging message sent by the
first network device is specifically the CN based paging, and the
CN based paging includes the second identification information of
the terminal. Step S306 to step S309 are similar to this, and
details are not described herein again.
[0097] In this embodiment, the first network device sends the first
identification information or the second identification information
of the terminal to the core network node, and the core network node
may indicate the network device to send the first paging message or
the second paging message for paging the terminal, thereby
improving flexibility of paging the terminal by the network
device.
[0098] In addition, based on the foregoing embodiment, the first
network device may further send, to the core network node, a period
in which the terminal listens to the first paging message or a
sending period of the first paging message.
[0099] FIG. 3 is used as an example. In step S303, the first
network device may send the information about the RNA, the first
identification information of the terminal, and the paging
configuration information to the core network node. In step S306
and step S308, the indication information sent by the core network
node to the second network device and the third network device is
specifically first indication information, and the first indication
information includes the first identification information of the
terminal and the paging configuration information. In step S307 and
step S309, the second network device and the third network device
may send, based on the paging configuration information, first
paging messages to the terminal within the period in which the
terminal listens to the first paging message, so that the terminal
can normally receive the first paging messages, thereby improving a
success rate of paging the terminal.
[0100] Based on FIG. 3, after the core network node indicates all
or some network devices in the first network device, the second
network device, and the third network device to page the terminal,
and all the indicated network devices fail to page the terminal,
the core network node may further send second indication
information to a network device in a tracking area allocated by the
core network node to the terminal, where the second indication
information is used to indicate, to send a second paging message
for paging the terminal, the network device in the tracking area
allocated by the core network node to the terminal. Because the
tracking area allocated by the core network node to the terminal is
larger than the RNA allocated by the source base station to the
terminal, when the core network node indicates a base station in
the tracking area TA to page the terminal, the base station can
page the terminal in a larger range, thereby further improving a
success rate of paging the terminal.
[0101] It may be understood that some or all of the steps or
operations in the foregoing embodiment are merely examples. Other
operations or variations of various operations may be performed in
the embodiments of this application. In addition, the steps may be
performed in a sequence different from that shown in the foregoing
embodiment, and not all the operations in the foregoing embodiment
are necessarily performed.
[0102] In another possible embodiment, the following describes a
method for establishing, by a core network node, a correspondence
between an identifier of a cell and an identity of a RAN area to
which the cell belongs. The method includes the following several
feasible implementations.
[0103] In a feasible implementation, as shown in FIG. 4, a base
station sends a RAN area identity and identification information of
a cell to a core network node. The RAN area identity is an identity
of a RAN area to which a cell corresponding to the base station
belongs. The core network node establishes a correspondence between
an identifier of the cell and the RAN area identity based on the
cell corresponding to the base station.
[0104] Optionally, the base station is corresponding to one cell,
and the base station sends, to the core network node, a RAN area
identity corresponding to the cell.
[0105] Optionally, the base station is corresponding to a plurality
of cells, RAN areas to which all of the plurality of cells belong
have a same identity, in other words, the plurality of cells are
corresponding to the same RAN area ID, and the base station sends,
to the core network node, the RAN area ID corresponding to the
plurality of cells. The core network node establishes a
correspondence between the RAN area ID and an identifier of each of
the plurality of cells.
[0106] In another feasible implementation, as shown in FIG. 4, a
base station sends, to a core network node, identification
information of a cell and identification information of a RAN area
to which the cell belongs.
[0107] Optionally, the base station may be corresponding to a
plurality of cells, and RAN areas to which all of the plurality of
cells belong have different identities, in other words, the
plurality of cells are corresponding to different RAN area IDs. For
example, the base station is corresponding to a cell 1 and a cell
2, a RAN area ID corresponding to the cell 1 is 1, and a RAN area
ID corresponding to the cell 2 is 2. The base station sends
identification information of the cell 1 and the RAN area ID 1, and
identification information of the cell 2 and the RAN area ID 2 to
the core network node. It may be understood that the plurality of
cells corresponding to the base station may belong to a same RAN
area. This is not limited in this embodiment of this
application.
[0108] Optionally, the base station may be corresponding to one
cell 1. The cell may belong to different RAN areas, in other words,
the cell is corresponding to a plurality of different RAN area IDs.
For example, the cell is corresponding to a RAN area ID 1 and a RAN
area ID 2, and the base station sends identification information 1
of the cell, the RAN area ID 1, and the RAN area ID 2 to the core
network node. Alternatively, the base station sends the
identification information 1 of the cell and the RAN area ID 1, and
the identification information 1 of the cell and the RAN area ID 2
to the core network node.
[0109] It may be understood that the base station in this
embodiment may be the first network device, the second network
device, or the third network device in the foregoing embodiment, or
may be another network device. This is not specifically limited in
this embodiment.
[0110] It should be noted that this embodiment is described by
using an example in which information that is about an RNA and that
is sent by a source base station to a terminal is RAN area
information. This embodiment is further applicable to a scenario in
which the information about the RNA is tracking area information or
a scenario in which the information about the RNA is other
configuration.
[0111] Optionally, the base station may add any one of the
following information to an interface establishment request message
or a base station configuration update message sent to the core
network node: a RAN area identity, identification information of a
cell, identification information of a RAN area to which the cell
belongs, a tracking area identity, identification information of a
cell, and identification information of a tracking area of the
cell.
[0112] It may be understood that the method for establishing, by a
core network node, a correspondence between an identifier of a cell
and an identity of a RAN area to which the cell belongs in the
foregoing embodiment is applicable to the method embodiment shown
in FIG. 3, or may be independent of the method embodiment shown in
FIG. 3, and is applicable to another scenario in which the
correspondence may be applied. This is not limited in this
embodiment of this application.
[0113] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another communication
method according to this application. As shown in FIG. 5, the
communication method may include the following steps.
[0114] Step S501: A source base station sends information about an
RNA and identification information of at least one cell to a
terminal.
[0115] In this embodiment, an example in which the information that
is about the RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal is RAN area information is used. The RAN area information
includes a RAN area identity 10 and a RAN area identity 4. In
addition, the source base station further sends the identification
information of the at least one cell to the terminal, where
identification information of a radio access network area to which
each of the at least one cell belongs to identification
information, of at least one radio access network area, that is
included in the information about the RNA. Optionally, a PLMN
identifier of each of the at least one cell belongs to a PLMN
identifier of at least one cell in the RNA. For example, the
identification information, of the at least one cell, that is sent
by the source base station to the terminal is identification
information of the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and
the cell 5 shown in FIG. 2. RAN area IDs corresponding to the cell
1, the cell 2, the cell 3, and the cell 4 are 10, and the RAN area
ID 10 belongs to the RAN area identity 10 and the RAN area identity
4 that are included in the information that is about the RNA and
that is sent by the source base station to the terminal. A RAN area
ID 4 corresponding to the cell 5 also belongs to the RAN area
identity 10 and the RAN area identity 4 that are included in the
information that is about the RNA and that is sent by the source
base station to the terminal. Optionally, in this embodiment, a
list including the identification information of the cell 1, the
cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and the cell 5 is referred to as a
whitelist. In a possible manner, a cell in the whitelist may be an
adjacent cell of a cell corresponding to the source base station.
Alternatively, in another possible manner, a base station
corresponding to the cell in the whitelist has a direct interface,
such as an Xn interface, to the source base station.
[0116] Alternatively, the identification information, of the at
least one cell, that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal is identification information of the cell 6, the cell 7,
and the cell 8 shown in FIG. 2. RAN area IDs corresponding to the
cell 6 and the cell 7 are 10, and the RAN area ID 10 belongs to the
RAN area identity 10 and the RAN area identity 4 that are included
in the information that is about the RNA and that is sent by the
source base station to the terminal. A RAN area ID 4 corresponding
to the cell 8 also belongs to the RAN area identity 10 and the RAN
area identity 4 that are included in the information that is about
the RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal. Optionally, in this embodiment, a list including the
identification information of the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell
8 is referred to as a blacklist. In a possible manner, a cell in
the blacklist is a non-adjacent cell of a cell corresponding to the
source base station. Alternatively, in another possible manner, a
base station corresponding to the cell in the blacklist does not
have a direct interface, such as an Xn interface, to the source
base station.
[0117] In this embodiment, identification information of a cell may
be a cell global identifier (Cell Global Identifier, CGI), and the
CGI is used to uniquely identify the cell. Alternatively,
identification information of a cell may be a cell identifier, and
the cell identifier is used to uniquely identify the cell in a
PLMN. Alternatively, identification information of a cell may be a
physical cell identifier (Physical Cell Identifier, PCI) and a
frequency channel number. If a cell is identified by using a cell
identifier or PCI and a frequency channel number, the cell may be
uniquely identified with reference to a RAN area ID corresponding
to the cell, in other words, the cell is uniquely identified by
using the PCI, the frequency channel number, and the RAN area
ID.
[0118] Step S502: The terminal enters an inactive state.
[0119] After receiving the information about the RNA and the
identification information of the at least one cell from the source
base station, the terminal enters the inactive state.
[0120] Step S503: The terminal determines, based on identification
information of a current cell of the terminal and the
identification information of the at least one cell, whether to
send an RNAU notification message.
[0121] The terminal in the inactive state may move in cells
corresponding to the RAN area ID 10 and the RAN area ID 4, or may
move out of the cells corresponding to the RAN area ID 10 and the
RAN area ID 4.
[0122] In this embodiment of this application, in a scenario in
which identification information of a radio access network area to
which the current cell of the terminal belongs to the
identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information that is about the
RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the terminal,
for example, the identification information of the radio access
network area to which the current cell of the terminal belongs is
the RAN area ID 10, and the RAN area ID 10 belongs to the
identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information that is about the
RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the terminal.
Alternatively, the identification information of the radio access
network area to which the current cell of the terminal belongs is
the RAN area ID 10, and the RAN area ID 10 is the same as the RAN
area ID 10 in the information about the RNA configured by the
source base station for the terminal. As shown in FIG. 2, the
current cell may be one of the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the
cell 4, the cell 6, and the cell 7. If the identification
information of the radio access network area to which the current
cell of the terminal belongs is the RAN area ID 4, the current cell
may be the cell 5 or the cell 8.
[0123] That the terminal determines, based on identification
information of a current cell of the terminal and the
identification information of the at least one cell, whether to
send an RNAU notification message includes the following several
possible cases.
[0124] In a possible case, the identification information of the at
least one cell is used to indicate the terminal to camp on any one
of cells corresponding to the identification information of the at
least one cell, and send the RNAU notification message to a base
station of the cell on which the terminal currently camps. For
example, in a possible manner, the at least one cell is a
non-adjacent cell of the cell corresponding to the source base
station. For example, the identification information, of the at
least one cell, that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal is the identification information of the cell 6, the cell
7, and the cell 8. Optionally, the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell
8 are non-adjacent cells of the cell corresponding to the source
base station. Alternatively, it may be understood that the source
base station sends the blacklist to the terminal in this case. In
this case, if identification information of the cell on which the
terminal currently camps is the same as identification information
of a cell in the blacklist, the terminal sends the RNAU
notification message to the base station of the cell on which the
terminal currently camps.
[0125] For example, the terminal camps on the cell 6, the RAN area
ID corresponding to the cell 6 is 10, and the RAN area ID 10
belongs to the identification information, of the at least one
radio access network area, that is included in the information that
is about the RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal. Alternatively, the RAN area ID 10 corresponding to the
cell 6 is the same as the RAN area ID 10 in the information about
the RNA configured by the source base station for the terminal. In
this case, the identification information, of the at least one
cell, that is received by the terminal is the identification
information of the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8, in other
words, the identification information of the cell 6 is in the
blacklist. Therefore, the terminal sends the RNAU notification
message to a base station corresponding to the cell 6, so that a
network device or a core network node determines location
information of the terminal.
[0126] In a possible case, the identification information of the at
least one cell is used to indicate the terminal to camp on any cell
other than cells corresponding to the identification information of
the at least one cell, and send the RNAU notification message to a
base station of the cell on which the terminal currently camps. For
example, in a possible manner, the at least one cell may be an
adjacent cell of the cell corresponding to the source base station.
For example, the identification information, of the at least one
cell, that is sent by the source base station to the terminal is
the identification information of the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell
3, the cell 4, and the cell 5. Optionally, the cell 1, the cell 2,
the cell 3, the cell 4, and the cell 5 are adjacent cells of the
cell corresponding to the source base station. Alternatively, it
may be understood that the source base station sends the whitelist
to the terminal in this case. In this case, if identification
information of the cell on which the terminal currently camps is
different from identification information of each cell in the
whitelist, the terminal sends the RNAU notification message to the
base station of the cell on which the terminal currently camps.
[0127] For example, the terminal camps on the cell 6, the RAN area
ID corresponding to the cell 6 is 10, and the RAN area ID 10
belongs to the identification information, of the at least one
radio access network area, that is included in the information that
is about the RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the
terminal. Alternatively, the RAN area ID 10 corresponding to the
cell 6 is the same as the RAN area ID 10 in the information about
the RNA configured by the source base station for the terminal. In
this case, the identification information, of the at least one
cell, that is received by the terminal is the identification
information of the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and
the cell 5, in other words, the identification information of the
cell 6 is not in the whitelist. Therefore, the terminal sends the
RNAU notification message to a base station corresponding to the
cell 6, so that a network device or a core network node determines
location information of the terminal.
[0128] It may be understood that, in a scenario in which
identification information of a radio access network area to which
the current cell of the terminal belongs does not belong to the
identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information that is about the
RNA and that is sent by the source base station to the terminal,
the terminal sends the RNAU notification message to a network
device of the current cell.
[0129] In a possible manner, whether the identification
information, of the at least one cell, that is sent by the source
base station to the terminal is the whitelist or the blacklist may
be agreed on in advance by using a communications protocol.
[0130] In addition, in another implementation, the source base
station may further send indication information to the terminal,
where the indication information is used to indicate whether the
identification information, of the at least one cell, that is sent
by the source base station to the terminal is the whitelist or the
blacklist. The source base station may simultaneously send the
indication information and the identification information of the at
least one cell to the terminal, or may successively send the
indication information and the identification information of the at
least one cell to the terminal.
[0131] It may be understood that this embodiment is described by
using an example in which the information that is about the RNA and
that is sent by the source base station to the terminal is the RAN
area information. This embodiment is further applicable to a
scenario in which the information about the RNA is tracking area
information or a scenario in which the information about the RNA is
other configuration. A specific implementation is similar to the
implementation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and details are
not described herein again.
[0132] In this embodiment, the source base station sends the
information about the RNA and the identification information of the
at least one cell to the terminal. The identification information
of the at least one cell may constitute the whitelist or the
blacklist. When the terminal enters a cell in the blacklist or
leaves a cell in the whitelist, the terminal sends the RNAU
notification message to a base station in a current cell, so that
the network device or the core network node determines location
information of the terminal, and when downlink data or signaling
arrives, the network device or the core network node can
successfully page the terminal.
[0133] To distinguish the identification information, of the at
least one radio access network area, that is included in the
information that is about the RNA and that is sent by the source
base station to the terminal in the foregoing embodiment from
identification information, of at least one radio access network
area, that is sent by the core network node to the source base
station in a subsequent embodiment, the identification information,
of the at least one radio access network area, that is included in
the information that is about the RNA and that is sent by the
source base station to the terminal in the foregoing embodiment is
referred to as identification information of at least one first
radio access network area, and the identification information, of
the at least one radio access network area, that is sent by the
core network node to the source base station in the subsequent
embodiment is referred to as identification information of at least
one second radio access network area. Similarly, identification
information, of at least one tracking area, that is included in the
information that is about the RNA and that is sent by the source
base station to the terminal in the foregoing embodiment is
referred to as identification information of at least one first
tracking area, and identification information, of at least one
tracking area, that is sent by the core network node to the source
base station in the subsequent embodiment is referred to as
identification information of at least one second tracking
area.
[0134] In a possible embodiment, the source base station may
determine, by using the following several feasible implementations,
the identification information, of the at least one cell, that is
sent to the terminal.
[0135] In a feasible implementation, the source base station
receives, from the core network node, the identification
information of the at least one second radio access network area
and identification information of a cell corresponding to
identification information of each of the at least one second radio
access network area, and determines the identification information
of the at least one cell based on the identification information of
the at least one second radio access network area and the
identification information of the cell corresponding to the
identification information of each of the at least one second radio
access network area.
[0136] Optionally, the core network node may further send, to the
source base station, identification information of a base station
of the cell corresponding to each second radio access network area.
The source base station may determine, based on the identification
information of the base station, whether there is a direct
interface between the source base station and the base station. The
direct interface may be an original interface, or may be an
interface newly established by the source base station based on the
identification information of the base station.
[0137] In this embodiment, identification information of a second
radio access network area may be the same as or different from
identification information of a first radio access network area.
For example, the core network node receives, in a manner shown in
FIG. 4, an identifier of a cell corresponding to a base station and
identification information of a RAN area to which the cell belongs.
The base station may be a base station corresponding to the cell 0,
the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, or the cell 5, or
may be a base station corresponding to the cell 6, the cell 7, or
the cell 8. The core network node may determine, based on cell
identifiers respectively corresponding to the cell 0, the cell 1,
the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, the cell 6, and the cell 7 and
RAN area IDs respectively corresponding to the cell 0, the cell 1,
the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, the cell 6, and the cell 7, the
RAN area ID 10 and identification information of cells
corresponding to the RAN area ID 10. Similarly, the core network
node may determine the RAN area ID 4 and identification information
of cells corresponding to the RAN area ID 4. In addition, as shown
in FIG. 4, the base station may be further a base station of
another cell, and a RAN area ID corresponding to the another cell
is, for example, 3. The core network node may further determine the
RAN area ID 3 and identification information of a cell
corresponding to the RAN area ID 3.
[0138] For example, the core network node sends, to the source base
station, the RAN area ID 10, the identification information of the
cells corresponding to the RAN area ID 10, the RAN area ID 4, and
the identification information of the cells corresponding to the
RAN area ID 4. For example, the core network node sends {RAN area
ID 10; cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 6, and cell 7} and {RAN
area ID 4; cell 5 and cell 8} to the source base station. The
source base station determines, based on the RAN area ID 10, the
identification information of the cells corresponding to the RAN
area ID 10, the RAN area ID 4, and the identification information
of the cells corresponding to the RAN area ID 4, that there are no
direct interfaces between the source base station and base stations
corresponding to the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8, and the
source base station may use the cell 6, the cell 7, and the cell 8
as the blacklist. Alternatively, the source base station uses the
cell 0, the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4, and the
cell 5 as the whitelist.
[0139] Optionally, the core network node may further send
identification information of base stations corresponding to the
foregoing cells to the source base station. In an implementation,
it is assumed that each base station is corresponding to only one
cell, and identification information of the base station is
corresponding to identification information of the cell. For
example, identification information of the source base station is
0, and identification information of the cell 0 corresponding to
the source base station is 0. The core network node sends {RAN area
ID 10; (base station 1, cell 1), (base station 2, cell 2), (base
station 3, cell 3), (base station 4, cell 4), (base station 6, cell
6), (base station 7, cell 7)}, and {RAN area ID 4; (base station 5,
cell 5) and (base station 8, cell 8)} to the source base station.
The source base station determines, based on RAN area IDs,
identification information of cells, and identification information
of base stations that are received from the core network node, that
there are no direct interfaces between the source base station and
the base station 6, the base station 7, and the base station 8, and
the source base station may use the cell 6, the cell 7, and the
cell 8 as the blacklist. Alternatively, the source base station
uses the cell 0, the cell 1, the cell 2, the cell 3, the cell 4,
and the cell 5 as the whitelist.
[0140] Optionally, before sending the RAN area IDs and the
identification information of the cells corresponding to the RAN
area IDs to the source base station, the core network node may
receive RAN area ID information sent by a base station. Based on a
request of the base station, the core network node selectively
sends a corresponding RAN area ID and identification information of
a cell corresponding to the RAN area ID, thereby reducing signaling
overheads between the base station and the core network node. For
example, in this embodiment, if the source base station sends the
RAN area ID 10 to the core network node, the core network node
sends only the RAN area ID 10 and the identification information of
the cells corresponding to the RAN area ID 10 to the source base
station.
[0141] Optionally, the identification information of the at least
one second radio access network area and the identification
information of the cell corresponding to the identification
information of each of the at least one second radio access network
area that are sent by the core network node to the source base
station may be included in at least one type of signaling: an
initial context setup request (INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST), a
terminal context modification request (UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION
REQUEST), and a path switch request response (PATH SWITCH REQUEST
ACKNOWLEDGE). In addition, the signaling is not limited to the
foregoing signaling.
[0142] It may be understood that this embodiment is described by
using an example in which the source base station receives, from
the core network node, the identification information of the at
least one second radio access network area and the identification
information of the cell corresponding to the identification
information of each of the at least one second radio access network
area. In addition, this embodiment is further applicable to a
scenario in which the source base station receives, from the core
network node, the identification information of the at least one
second tracking area and identification information of a cell
corresponding to each of the at least one second tracking area, and
determines the identification information of the at least one cell
based on the identification information of the at least one second
tracking area and the identification information of the cell
corresponding to each of the at least one second tracking area. A
specific implementation is similar to the implementation of this
embodiment, and details are not described herein again.
[0143] In another feasible implementation, the source base station
receives, from a second network device, identification information
of a cell corresponding to the second network device and
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which the cell belongs. Optionally, the source
base station may further receive, from a second network device,
identification information of the second network device, and/or the
source base station receives, from a second network device,
identification information of a cell corresponding to a third
network device and identification information of a radio access
network area or a tracking area to which the cell belongs.
Optionally, the source base station may further receive
identification information of the third network device. The
identification information of the third network device and the
identification information of the radio access network area or the
tracking area to which the cell corresponding to the third network
device belongs may be directly received by the second network
device from the third network device, or may be indirectly obtained
from another network device. This is not limited in this embodiment
of this application.
[0144] As shown in FIG. 6, there is a direct Xn interface between a
source base station 1 and a second network device such as a base
station 2, there is no direct Xn interface between the source base
station 1 and a third network device such as a base station 3, and
there is a direct Xn interface between the base station 2 and the
base station 3. The source base station 1 and the base station 2
may exchange, through the Xn interface, identification information
of RAN areas or TAs to which cells corresponding to the source base
station 1 and the base station 2 belong. For example, the source
base station 1 may send, to the base station 2 through the Xn
interface, identification information of a RAN area or a TA to
which a cell corresponding to the source base station 1 belongs,
and the base station 2 may send, to the source base station 1
through the Xn interface, identification information of a RAN area
or a TA to which a cell corresponding to the base station 2
belongs. The base station 2 and the base station 3 may exchange,
through the Xn interface, identification information of RAN areas
or TAs to which cells corresponding to base station 2 and the base
station 3 belong. The base station 2 may further send, to the
source base station 1, identification information of a RAN area or
a TA to which a cell corresponding to the base station 3 belongs.
Alternatively, the base station 2 may further send, to the base
station 3, the identification information of the RAN area or the TA
to which the cell corresponding to the base station 1 belongs. For
example, the identification information of the RAN area to which
the cell 1 corresponding to the source base station 1 belongs is a
RAN area ID 10, and the source base station 1 determines that the
identification information of the RAN area to which the cell 2
corresponding to the base station 2 belongs is the RAN area ID 10
and that the identification information of the RAN area to which
the cell 3 corresponding to the base station 3 belongs is the RAN
area ID 10. Optionally, the source base station 1 determines, based
on identification information of the base station 3, that there is
no direct Xn interface between the source base station 1 and the
base station 3. When information that is about an RNA and that is
sent by the source base station 1 to a terminal includes the RAN
area ID 10, identification information of the cell 3 corresponding
to the base station 3 may be used as a blacklist, or identification
information of the cell 2 corresponding to the base station 2 may
be used as a whitelist.
[0145] It may be understood that this embodiment is described by
using an example in which the information that is about the RNA and
that is sent by the source base station to the terminal is RAN area
information. This embodiment is further applicable to a scenario in
which the information about the RNA is tracking area information or
a scenario in which the information about the RNA is other
configuration. A specific implementation is consistent with the
implementation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and details are
not described herein again.
[0146] It may be understood that, in this embodiment of this
application, in a process in which one base station (base station
A) sends a RAN area identity or identification information of a TA
to another base station (base station B), the base station A also
sends identification information of the base station A to the base
station B. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the base station 2 may
not only send, to the source base station 1 through the Xn
interface, the identification information of the RAN area or the TA
to which the cell corresponding to the base station 2 belongs, but
also send identification information of the base station 2 to the
source base station 1.
[0147] In this embodiment, the source base station sends the
information about the RNA and the identification information of at
least one cell to the terminal, and the RNAU notification message
is sent and notified to the network device or the core network node
in a timely manner based on a current location of the terminal, so
that the network device or the core network node can find the
terminal when downlink data or signaling arrives.
[0148] It may be understood that some or all of the steps or
operations in the foregoing embodiment are merely examples. Other
operations or variations of various operations may be performed in
the embodiments of this application. In addition, the steps may be
performed in a sequence different from that shown in the foregoing
embodiment, and not all the operations in the foregoing embodiment
are necessarily performed.
[0149] It may be understood that, in the foregoing embodiments, an
operation or step implemented by a terminal may also be implemented
by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) that may be used for
the terminal, an operation or step implemented by a core network
node may also be implemented by a component (such as a chip or a
circuit) that may be used for the core network node, and an
operation or step implemented by a network device (such as a first
network device, a second network device, and a third network
device) may also be implemented by a component (such as a chip or a
circuit) that may be used for the network device.
[0150] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications
apparatus. The communications apparatus may be configured to
implement a method corresponding to a network device (for example,
a first network device, a second network device, or a third network
device), a method corresponding to a terminal, or a method
corresponding to a core network node in the foregoing method
embodiments. For details, refer to descriptions in the foregoing
method embodiments.
[0151] A communications apparatus 70 may include one or more
processors 71. The processor 71 may also be referred to as a
processing unit, and can implement a specific control function. The
processor 71 may be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated
processor, or the like.
[0152] In an optional design, the processor 71 may also store an
instruction 73, and the instruction may be run by the processor, so
that the communications apparatus 70 performs the method that is
corresponding to the terminal, the network device, or the core
network node and that is described in the foregoing method
embodiments.
[0153] In another possible design, the communications apparatus 70
may include a circuit. The circuit may be used to implement a
transmitting function, a receiving function, or a communication
function in the foregoing method embodiments.
[0154] Optionally, the communications apparatus 70 may include one
or more memories 72. The memory 72 stores an instruction 74 or
intermediate data. The instruction 74 may be run by the processor,
so that the communications apparatus 70 performs the methods
described in the foregoing method embodiments. Optionally, the
memory may further store other related data. Optionally, the
processor may also store an instruction and/or data. The processor
and the memory may be disposed separately, or may be integrated
together.
[0155] Optionally, the communications apparatus 70 may further
include a transceiver 75.
[0156] The processor 71 may be referred to as the processing unit.
The transceiver 75 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a
transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or the like, and
is configured to implement a transmitting and receiving function of
the communications apparatus.
[0157] If the communications apparatus is configured to implement
an operation corresponding to the core network node in the
embodiment shown in FIG. 3, for example, the transceiver may
receive, from a first network device, information that is about a
radio access network notification area RNA and that is sent by the
first network device to a terminal, and indicate, to page the
terminal, a network device of a cell corresponding to a radio
access network area or a tracking area identified by the
identification information. The transceiver may further complete
another corresponding communication function. The processor is
configured to complete a corresponding determining or control
operation. Optionally, a corresponding instruction may be further
stored in the memory. For specific processing manners of the
components, refer to related descriptions in the foregoing
embodiments.
[0158] If the communications apparatus is configured to implement
an operation corresponding to the first network device in FIG. 3,
for example, the transceiver of the first network device may send
information about a radio access network notification area RNA to a
terminal, and send the information about the RNA to a core network
node. The transceiver may further complete another corresponding
communication function. The processor is configured to complete a
corresponding determining or control operation. Optionally, a
corresponding instruction may be further stored in the memory. For
specific processing manners of the components, refer to related
descriptions in the foregoing embodiments.
[0159] If the communications apparatus is configured to implement
an operation corresponding to the first network device in the
embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the processor is configured to
determine information that is about a radio access network
notification area RNA and that is to be sent to a terminal, and the
transceiver is configured to send the information about the RNA and
identification information of at least one cell to the terminal.
Optionally, the transceiver may be further configured to complete
another related communication operation, and the processor may be
further configured to complete another corresponding determining or
control operation, for example, determining information about the
at least one cell. Optionally, a corresponding instruction may be
further stored in the memory. For specific processing manners of
the components, refer to related descriptions in the foregoing
embodiments.
[0160] If the communications apparatus is configured to implement
an operation corresponding to the terminal in the embodiment shown
in FIG. 5, the transceiver is configured to receive information
about a radio access network notification area RNA and
identification information of at least one cell, and the processor
is configured to determine, based on identification information of
a current cell of the terminal and the identification information
of the at least one cell, whether to send a radio access network
notification area update RNAU notification message. Optionally, the
transceiver may be further configured to complete another related
communication operation, and the processor may be further
configured to complete another corresponding determining or control
operation. Optionally, a corresponding instruction may be further
stored in the memory. For specific processing manners of the
components, refer to related descriptions in the foregoing
embodiments.
[0161] The processor and the transceiver described in this
application may be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC), an
analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit RFIC, a mixed
signal IC, an application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a
printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, or the like. The
processor and transceiver may be manufactured by using various IC
process technologies such as complementary
metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), N-channel metal oxide
semiconductor NMOS), p-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS),
bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon
germanium (SiGe), and gallium arsenide (GaAs).
[0162] Optionally, the communications apparatus may be an
independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example,
the device may be (1) an independent integrated circuit IC, a chip,
a chip system, or a subsystem, (2) a set of one or more ICs, where
optionally, the IC set may also include a storage component for
storing data and/or an instruction, (3) an ASIC, such as a modem
(MSM), (4) a module that may be embedded in another device, (5) a
receiver, a terminal, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a
handset, a mobile unit, a network device, and the like, or (6)
another device, and the like.
[0163] FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communications
apparatus according to an embodiment of this application. As shown
in FIG. 8, the communications apparatus 80 includes a receiving
module 801 and an indication module 802. The receiving module 801
is configured to receive, from a first network device, information
that is about a radio access network notification area RNA and that
is sent by the first network device to a terminal. The indication
module 802 is configured to indicate, to page the terminal, a
network device of a cell corresponding to a radio access network
area or a tracking area identified by the identification
information.
[0164] In FIG. 8, further, the receiving module 801 may be further
configured to receive identification information of at least one
second network device from the first network device, where the
second network device is a network device that fails to page the
terminal. The indication module 802 is specifically configured to
indicate, to page the terminal, a network device in network devices
of the cell corresponding to the radio access network area or the
tracking area identified by the identification information other
than the at least one second network device.
[0165] In a possible manner, the receiving module 801 may be
further configured to receive first identification information of
the terminal from the first network device, where the first
identification information is used to uniquely identify the
terminal in the RNA. The indication module 802 may be configured to
indicate, to send a first paging message, the network device of the
cell corresponding to the radio access network area or the tracking
area identified by the identification information, where the first
paging message includes the first identification information.
[0166] In another possible manner, the receiving module 801 may be
further configured to receive second identification information of
the terminal from the first network device, where the second
identification information includes any one of a system
architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber identity S-TMSI,
an international mobile subscriber identity IMSI, or identification
information determined based on the S-TMSI or the IMSI. The
indication module 802 may be configured to indicate, to send a
second paging message, the network device of the cell corresponding
to the radio access network area or the tracking area identified by
the identification information, where the second paging message
includes the second identification information.
[0167] Optionally, the receiving module 801 may be further
configured to receive, from the first network device, a period in
which the terminal listens to the first paging message or a sending
period of the first paging message.
[0168] Optionally, the communications apparatus may further include
a sending module, configured to when all the indicated network
devices fail to page the terminal, send second indication
information to a network device in a tracking area allocated by the
communications apparatus to the terminal, where the second
indication information is used to indicate, to send a second paging
message for paging the terminal, the network device in the tracking
area allocated by the communications apparatus to the terminal.
[0169] Optionally, the receiving module 801 may be further
configured to receive, from a plurality of network devices,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to each network device
belongs.
[0170] The communications apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG.
8 may be configured to execute the technical solutions in the
foregoing method embodiments. For implementation principles and
technical effects of the communications apparatus, refer to related
descriptions in the method embodiments. Optionally, the
communications apparatus may be a core network node, or may be a
component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the core network
node.
[0171] FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application. As shown in FIG. 9, the communications apparatus 90
includes a first sending module 901 and a second sending module
902. The first sending module 901 is configured to send information
about a radio access network notification area RNA to a terminal,
where the information about the RNA includes identification
information of at least one radio access network area or
identification information of at least one tracking area. The
second sending module 902 is configured to send the information
about the RNA to a core network node.
[0172] In FIG. 9, the second sending module 902 is further
configured to send identification information of at least one
second network device to the core network node, where the second
network device is a network device that fails to page the
terminal.
[0173] In a possible manner, the second sending module 902 may be
further configured to send first identification information of the
terminal to the core network node, where the first identification
information is used to uniquely identify the terminal in the
RNA.
[0174] In another possible manner, the second sending module 902
may be further configured to send second identification information
of the terminal to the core network node, where the second
identification information includes any one of a system
architecture evolution-temporary mobile subscriber identity S-TMSI,
an international mobile subscriber identity IMSI, or identification
information determined based on the S-TMSI or the IMSI.
[0175] Optionally, the second sending module 902 may be further
configured to send, to the core network node, a period in which the
terminal listens to a first paging message or a sending period of
the first paging message.
[0176] Optionally, the second sending module 902 may be further
configured to send, to the core network node, identification
information of a radio access network area or a tracking area to
which a cell corresponding to the communications apparatus
belongs.
[0177] Optionally, the second sending module 902 is further
configured to send, to the core network node, an identifier of a
cell corresponding to the communications apparatus and
identification information of a radio access network area to which
the cell belongs, or send, to the core network node, an identifier
of a cell corresponding to the communications apparatus and
identification information of a tracking area to which the cell
belongs.
[0178] The communications apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG.
9 may be configured to execute the technical solutions in the
foregoing method embodiments. For implementation principles and
technical effects of the communications apparatus, refer to related
descriptions in the method embodiments. Optionally, the
communications apparatus may be a base station, or may be a
component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the base station.
[0179] FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application. As shown in FIG. 10, the communications apparatus 100
includes a determining module 1001 and a sending module 1002. The
determining module 1001 is configured to determine information that
is about a radio access network notification area RNA and that is
to be sent to a terminal, where the information about the RNA
includes identification information of at least one first radio
access network area or identification information of at least one
first tracking area. The sending module 1002 is configured to send
the information about the RNA and identification information of at
least one cell to the terminal.
[0180] In FIG. 10, further, identification information of a radio
access network area to which each of the at least one cell belongs
to the identification information, of the at least one first radio
access network area, that is included in the information about the
RNA, or identification information of a tracking area to which each
of the at least one cell belongs to the identification information,
of the at least one first tracking area, that is included in the
information about the RNA.
[0181] In a possible manner, the communications apparatus 100 may
further include a receiving module 1003. The receiving module 1003
is configured to receive, from a second network device,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to the second network
device belongs, and/or receive, from a second network device,
identification information of a radio access network area or a
tracking area to which a cell corresponding to a third network
device belongs.
[0182] In the foregoing embodiment, the at least one cell may be
determined based on the cell corresponding to the second network
device and/or the cell corresponding to the third network
device.
[0183] In another possible manner, the receiving module 1003 is
further configured to receive, from a core network node,
identification information of at least one second radio access
network area and identification information of a cell corresponding
to each of the at least one second radio access network area, or
receive, from a core network node, identification information of at
least one second tracking area and identification information of a
cell corresponding to each of the at least one second tracking
area.
[0184] In the foregoing embodiment, the at least one cell may be
determined based on the identification information of the at least
one second radio access network area and the identification
information of the cell corresponding to each of the at least one
second radio access network area, or the at least one cell is
determined based on the identification information of the at least
one second tracking area and the identification information of the
cell corresponding to each of the at least one second tracking
area.
[0185] The communications apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG.
10 may be configured to execute the technical solutions in the
foregoing method embodiments. For implementation principles and
technical effects of the communications apparatus, refer to
corresponding descriptions in the method embodiments. Details are
not described herein again. Optionally, the communications
apparatus may be a base station, or may be a component (such as a
chip or a circuit) of the base station.
[0186] FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application. As shown in FIG. 11, the communications apparatus 110
includes a receiving module 1101 and a determining module 1102. The
receiving module 1101 is configured to receive, from a network
device, information about a radio access network notification area
RNA and identification information of at least one cell, where the
information about the RNA includes identification information of at
least one radio access network area or identification information
of at least one tracking area. The determining module 1102 is
configured to determine, based on identification information of a
current cell of a terminal and the identification information of
the at least one cell, whether to send a radio access network
notification area update RNAU notification message. Identification
information of a radio access network area to which the current
cell belongs to the identification information, of the at least one
radio access network area, that is included in the information
about the RNA, or identification information of a tracking area to
which the current cell belongs to the identification information,
of the at least one tracking area, that is included in the
information about the RNA.
[0187] In FIG. 11, further, identification information of a radio
access network area to which each of the at least one cell belongs
to the identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information about the RNA, or
identification information of a tracking area to which each of the
at least one cell belongs to the identification information, of the
at least one tracking area, that is included in the information
about the RNA.
[0188] In a possible manner, the determining module 1102 may be
configured to when the identification information of the current
cell is the same as identification information of any one of the at
least one cell, determine to send the RNAU notification message to
the network device, where the identification information of the at
least one cell is used to indicate the terminal to camp on any one
of cells corresponding to the identification information of the at
least one cell, and send the RNAU notification message to a network
device of the cell on which the terminal currently camps.
[0189] In another possible manner, the determining module 1102 may
be configured to when the identification information of the current
cell is different from identification information of each of the at
least one cell, determine to send the RNAU notification message to
the network device, where the identification information of the at
least one cell is used to indicate the terminal to camp on any cell
other than a cell corresponding to the identification information
of the at least one cell, and send the RNAU notification message to
a base station of the cell on which the terminal currently
camps.
[0190] The communications apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG.
11 may be configured to execute the technical solutions in the
foregoing method embodiments. Implementation principles and
technical effects of the communications apparatus are similar to
those of the method embodiments. Details are not described herein
again. Optionally, the communications apparatus may be a terminal,
or may be a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the
terminal.
[0191] It should be understood that division of the modules in the
communications apparatuses in FIG. 8 to FIG. 11 is merely logical
function division. In actual implementation, all or some of the
modules may be integrated into one physical entity, or the modules
may be physically separated. In addition, the modules may be all
implemented in a form of software invoked by using a processing
element, or may be implemented in a form of hardware, or some
modules may be implemented in a form of software invoked by using a
processing element and some modules may be implemented in a form of
hardware. For example, a determining module may be a processing
element disposed separately, or may be integrated into a
communications apparatus, for example, may be implemented in a chip
of a terminal. In addition, the determining module may be stored in
a memory of the communications apparatus in a form of a program,
and invoked by a processing element of the communications apparatus
to perform functions of the determining module. Implementation of
other modules is similar to this. In addition, all or some of the
modules may be integrated together or may be implemented
separately. The processing element herein may be an integrated
circuit and has a signal processing capability. In an
implementation process, steps in the foregoing methods or the
foregoing modules can be implemented by using an integrated logic
circuit of hardware in the processing element, or by using
instructions in a form of software.
[0192] For example, the foregoing modules may be configured as one
or more integrated circuits for performing the foregoing methods,
for example, one or more application-specific integrated circuits
(Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), one or more
microprocessors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate
arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA). For another example,
when one of the modules is implemented in a form of a program
invoked by the processing element, the processing element may be a
general-purpose processor, for example, a central processing unit
(CPU) or another processor that can invoke a program. For another
example, the modules may be integrated together and implemented in
a form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).
[0193] FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of still another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application. The communications apparatus may be specifically a
base station. As shown in FIG. 12, the base station includes an
antenna 121, a radio frequency apparatus 122, and a baseband
apparatus 123. The antenna 121 is connected to the radio frequency
apparatus 122. In an uplink direction, the radio frequency
apparatus 122 receives, by using the antenna 121, information sent
by a terminal, and sends, to the baseband apparatus 123 for
processing, the information sent by the terminal. In a downlink
direction, the baseband apparatus 123 processes the information of
the terminal, and sends the information to the radio frequency
apparatus 122. The radio frequency apparatus 122 processes the
information of the terminal, and sends the information to the
terminal by using the antenna 121.
[0194] The foregoing communications apparatus may be located in the
baseband apparatus 123. In an implementation, the foregoing modules
are implemented in a form of a program invoked by a processing
element. For example, the baseband apparatus 123 includes a
processing element and a storage element, and the processing
element 1231 invokes a program stored in the storage element 1232
to perform the methods in the foregoing method embodiments. In
addition, the baseband apparatus 123 may further include an
interface 1233, configured to exchange information with the radio
frequency apparatus 122. The interface is, for example, a common
public radio interface (CPRI).
[0195] In another implementation, the foregoing modules may be
configured as one or more processing elements for implementing the
foregoing methods. These processing elements are disposed on the
baseband apparatus 123. The processing element herein may be an
integrated circuit, for example, one or more ASICs, one or more
DSPs, or one or more FPGAs. The integrated circuits may be
integrated together to form a chip.
[0196] For example, the foregoing modules may be integrated
together and implemented in a form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC). For
example, the baseband apparatus 123 includes an SOC chip, and the
SOC chip is configured to implement the foregoing methods. The
processing element 1231 and the storage element 1232 may be
integrated into the chip, and the processing element 1231 invokes a
program stored in the storage element 1232, to implement the
foregoing methods or functions of the foregoing modules.
Alternatively, at least one integrated circuit may be integrated
into the chip to implement the foregoing methods or functions of
the foregoing modules. Alternatively, the foregoing implementations
may be combined, functions of some modules are implemented by the
processing element by invoking programs, and functions of some
modules are implemented by using an integrated circuit.
[0197] Regardless of a used manner, the communications apparatus
includes at least one processing element, a storage element, and a
communications interface, and the at least one processing element
is configured to perform the methods provided in the foregoing
method embodiments. The processing element may perform some or all
of the steps in the foregoing method embodiments in a first manner
of executing the program stored in the storage element, or in a
second manner of using an integrated logic circuit of hardware in
the processing element with reference to an instruction. Certainly,
the methods provided in the foregoing method embodiments may
alternatively be performed by combining the first manner with the
second manner.
[0198] Same as that in the foregoing description, the processing
element herein may be a general-purpose processor, for example, a
central processing unit (CPU), or may be configured as one or more
integrated circuits that perform the foregoing methods, for
example, one or more application-specific integrated circuits
(ASIC), one or more microprocessors (digital signal processor,
DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). The
storage element may be a memory, or may be a general name for a
plurality of storage elements.
[0199] FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of still another
communications apparatus according to an embodiment of this
application. As shown in FIG. 13, a communications apparatus 130
includes a processor 132 and a transceiver apparatus 133. The
transceiver apparatus 133 is configured to receive, from a network
device, information about a radio access network notification area
RNA and identification information of at least one cell, where the
information about the RNA includes identification information of at
least one radio access network area or identification information
of at least one tracking area. The processor 132 is configured to
determine, based on identification information of a current cell of
a terminal and the identification information of the at least one
cell, whether to send a radio access network notification area
update RNAU notification message. Identification information of a
radio access network area to which the current cell belongs to the
identification information, of the at least one radio access
network area, that is included in the information about the RNA, or
identification information of a tracking area to which the current
cell belongs to the identification information, of the at least one
tracking area, that is included in the information about the RNA.
Further, the communications apparatus 130 further includes a memory
131, configured to store a computer program or an instruction. The
processor 132 is configured to invoke the program or the
instruction.
[0200] The communications apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIG.
13 may be configured to execute the technical solutions in the
foregoing method embodiments. For implementation principles and
technical effects of the communications apparatus, refer to related
descriptions in the method embodiments. Details are not described
herein again. Optionally, the communications apparatus may be a
terminal, or may be a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of
the terminal.
[0201] In FIG. 13, the transceiver apparatus 133 may be connected
to an antenna. In a downlink direction, the transceiver apparatus
133 receives, by using the antenna, information sent by a base
station, and sends the information to the processor 132 for
processing. In an uplink direction, the processor 132 processes
data of the terminal, and sends the data to the base station by
using the transceiver apparatus 133.
[0202] Optionally, the processor 132 may be configured to implement
a corresponding function of the determining module 1102 in the
communications apparatus shown in FIG. 11, and the transceiver
apparatus may be configured to implement a corresponding function
of the receiving module 1101 in the communications apparatus shown
in FIG. 11. Alternatively, some or all of the foregoing modules may
be implemented by using an integrated circuit that is embedded in a
chip of the terminal. In addition, the modules may be implemented
separately, or may be integrated together. In other words, the
foregoing modules may be configured as one or more integrated
circuits for performing the foregoing methods, for example, one or
more application-specific integrated circuits (Application Specific
Integrated Circuit, ASIC), one or more microprocessors (DSP), or
one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).
[0203] An embodiment of this application further provides a
computer readable storage medium, where the computer readable
storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program
is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the
communication methods in the foregoing embodiments.
[0204] In addition, an embodiment of this application further
provides a computer program product, where the computer program
product includes a computer program. When the computer program is
run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the
communication methods in the foregoing embodiments.
[0205] All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented
through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.
When software is used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments
may be all or partially implemented in a form of a computer program
product. The computer program product includes one or more computer
instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and
executed on a computer, the procedure or functions according to
this application are all or partially generated. The computer may
be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer
network, or another programmable apparatus. The computer
instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or
may be transmitted from a computer readable storage medium to
another computer readable storage medium. For example, the computer
instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server,
or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center
in a wired (for example, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a
digital subscriber line) or wireless (for example, infrared, radio,
or microwave) manner. The computer readable storage medium may be
any usable medium accessible by a computer, or a data storage
device, such as a server or a data center, integrating one or more
usable media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (for
example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an
optical medium (for example, a DVD), a semiconductor medium (for
example, a solid state disk), or the like.
* * * * *